Demon, Fox & Blood Red Reaper
by Kaka-she Gladiator
Summary: Badly injured, Kakashi collapses his on way back from a solo ANBU mission. Before he blacks out completely, he sees a familiar pair of shoes and hears a familiar voice. Yaoi, slight BDSM and blood play. Sequel to Black Demon White Fox. Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or Kuroshitsuji
1. Chapter 1

Kakashi rushed through the dense green canopy surrounding him, barely able to see past the blood dripping into his eyes. He had long since given up on trying to keep it at bay – the wound that had torn off his headband just wouldn't stop bleeding. When he stumbled on loose bark below his feet, he slammed sideways into the trunk, jarring his dislocated shoulder and making him groan in pain. That in turn made the many stab wounds in his chest and abdomen tense, causing him to hurt even more.

The solid thunk of a kunai hitting the tree trunk next to his head made him jump backwards onto the branch of a tree further away. The damn enemy was swarming towards him like ants to honey. Or was it bees to honey? A throwing star cut through his sleeve and he brought his attention back to his current situation, instantly seeing at least a dozen more weapons flying towards him.

He narrowed his eyes and waited until the last possible second before he leapt sideways and kicked himself off the tree trunk. He went sailing over the deadly weapons, grabbed a branch as he passed it and swung himself around, changing his trajectory and sending him sailing off in another direction.

His feet barely hit the branch when there was a man in front of him, short sword drawn ready for attack. The white haired jonin, reacting purely on instinct and years of training, pulled a kunai out of the pouch on his thigh and blocked the swipe at his head. As the weapons bounced back from each other, he tossed the kunai into his other hand, grabbing a second one moment later. He deflected a second attack, but this time he slid his blade over the enemy's and locked it in place where it was. Before the other ninja could work out how to get his weapon free, Kakashi had slashed his throat with the second kunai knife in his other hand.

"It's been too long since I went out on an ANBU mission alone," he groaned as the man hit the ground.

He barely had a chance to catch his breath before another man appeared behind him, attacking instantly before Kakashi had a chance to react. His kick landed squarely in the patch of muscle between his hip and ribs, which had only recently healed enough for him to be out doing missions. He gritted his teeth through the pain and grabbed the branch under his feet before he went sailing out of the tree. Using the momentum he had gained from the fall he swung himself back up, kicking his assailant under the jaw, making his head snap upwards with a resounding crack.

The man stumbled backwards, allowing Kakashi to get back to his feet and stab him in the chest. The ninja grunted, coughed up a mouthful of blood and tumbled out of the tree. When he didn't move, the white haired man decided it was safe to continue. Taking a deep breath, he wrapped an arm around the largest gash on his stomach and started running through the trees again, knowing that he was almost at the border of the Land of Fire. They should stop following him once he was over it.

His suspicion was correct, because the moment he knew he crossed the border, he felt the presence of the enemy ninja slowly fade away. He didn't stop running though until he hadn't been able to sense them for at least twenty minutes. When he was sure that he was no longer being tailed, he allowed himself to drop to the ground and slow his pace to a walk.

However he hadn't been walking for more than a few minutes when he had to stop again, trying to catch his breath. One of the injuries he sustained must have affected his lung somehow, and when he started coughing blood, he knew that his lungs were definitely injured. That meant only one thing to him – hurry up and get back to the village.

Gritting his teeth against the pain he forced himself to continue, only now becoming aware of the pain in his legs and back. How had he not noticed that before? That then made him question just how badly injured he was. Putting that thought aside he pressed on, trying his best to ignore the throbbing pain that was steadily growing throughout his entire body, and praying that he was actually heading in the right direction.

As he walked, Kakashi steadily became more and more disoriented, finding it difficult to walk in the meagre straight line he had been managing to walk in before. More often than not he found himself falling into trees, and catching his hair and clothes on branches. By now he was also sure that he was leaving a very obvious trail of blood that even the lowest level shinobi could follow.

Well, at least if anyone _was_ following him then they would be very likely to kill him instantly. If he twisted his logic enough that was probably a good thing.

The sky was beginning to darken when his knees started to give way. He thrust his hands out, trying to find something to hold on to. His hands latched onto a branch, but it wasn't sturdy enough to hold his weight. It broke with a loud, resounding snap and he pitched forward, cracking his knees against the stone covered ground. He couldn't seem to move his arms fast enough to break the fall properly, and ended up with one arm caught underneath him at an odd angle, breaking when his body hit the ground.

A pained cry escaped his lips, muffled by his blood soaked mask. He was sure that on top of the now broken arm, both his kneecaps were broken too. Add that to the dislocated shoulder on his other arm, cracked ribs, and multiple stab wounds and cuts across his body, and he was nothing more than a broken bleeding mess on the ground where he lay.

Groaning he tried to roll over so that he could at least try and see how his arm was broken, and possibly asses the state of his knees, but he had no such luck. Now that the adrenalin he had when he was fighting had worn off the pain was getting to him, worse than it had been before. He was also completely out of energy, and had almost no chakra left at all. That meant that if someone was looking for him, they wouldn't be able to find him by sensing his chakra. It also meant that if he sensed anyone nearby, he couldn't alert them to the fact that he was there.

He was not in a good situation any way that you looked at it.

Best circumstance, he didn't bleed to death or die from the cold and was found by someone from Konaha, even if they weren't actually looking for him. It wasn't like he was taking a route that was never used by anyone. In fact he had taken one of the most used and most direct routes back to the village. Therefore he could be found by a squad or members of ANBU going to or coming from a mission.

Worst circumstance, he bled to death. Plain and simple, and probably wouldn't cause any more pain than that which he was currently experiencing. In fact, it would be just like getting really cold and then falling asleep. Not so bad.

"Fuck I'm pessimistic. Where's Naruto when you need him?" he mumbled, his words slurring slightly as his consciousness fought to stay in control through the haze of pain that was beginning to fog his brain.

Darkness fell, and with it came the cold, bitting wind that one instantly felt deep inside. Kakashi began to shiver uncontrollably, his body sheltered in no way from the chilling wind. When he could feel the cold deep in his chest he started to get worried. Pneumonia was not something that he wanted to catch on top of everything else that was wrong with him at the moment.

When he started coughing a few hours later, when the sky was no more than black with a few dots of stars poking through the thick canopy above him, the ninja knew that he was definitely in trouble. The cough was gravely and rough, and he could feel phlegm trying to force its way out of his throat. No doubt that this was the beginnings of pneumonia, and if he didn't get warm at least, then soon it would get really bad.

His eyelids gradually grew heavy, and his breathing became more laboured. Not bothering to fight any longer, he allowed his eyes to drift shut. His once tense muscles had long since relaxed, and he now felt as though he wanted nothing more than the melt into the ground and disappear. If he'd had enough chakra left to perform any jutsu he would have hidden himself underground using Earth-Style. Although even if he had enough chakra, it wasn't like he could even use his arms at the moment.

Somewhere in his slowly fading consciousness he thought he heard light footsteps walking around somewhere nearby. When he heard a twig crack loudly near his head, he cracked open an eye, which was difficult since it had practically been glued shut by dried blood. What he saw made his brow furrow in confusion.

Black dress shoes that were so shiny they reflected the few stars that were visible through the canopy. He tried to look up at whoever was standing over him, but before he could even roll his eyes up, everything around him suddenly felt heavy. Moments before everything around him went black, he heard an all too familiar voice from above him.

"Well now, isn't this interesting?"

…...

Sebastian really wished that his Young Master would stop focusing on solving crimes in the underworld for the Queen and start focusing on trying to find out who killed his parents. It wasn't that he didn't like the boy, in fact he found him to be quite nasty (a trait he greatly admired). No, it was more like he was growing tired of the staff and the often unwelcome visitor that he was currently dragging behind him in the middle of the night.

He wasn't the one who was doing the actual dragging. It was more of a case of 'the annoying thing won't let go of my tailcoat'. He had been walking around the dark grounds for close to twenty minutes now, dragging the thing around in the white gravel that lined the courtyard. At this point he was considering walking past the pond to see if that made any difference.

One good thing about the unwanted guest was that it came over so often that he now had a perfect defence against it – he ignored it completely. Although that didn't make it stop coming and causing a commotion, it did allow him to get on with his menial daily tasks in a more constructive manner. Although, when he finally managed to work out how to get rid of the thing permanently, his life would be much easier.

Just as he decided that he was indeed going to drag the thing into the pond, a vague scent hit his nose. Not vague in the sense that he couldn't tell what it was – he could quite easily tell that what he was smelling was blood. It was more like he had smelled this particular blood before, but the scent was too far away from him to be able to smell it properly.

When a large gust of wind blew towards him from the direction the scent was coming from however, he smiled. "Ah, I see," he said quietly.

"See? See what? Oh I know! You can finally see how much you love me back! Darling Bassy! I knew this day would come!" the thing squealed, jumping to its feet and attempting to wrap its arms around the butler.

"No Grell, I'm afraid that is not the case. Now if you'll excuse me, I believe that there is someone nearby who may need medical attention," Sebastian said calmly, gracefully slipping out of the thing's way when it tried to latch onto him.

"But what about me? This is supposed to be our time together Bassy!"

"I don't believe I ever agreed to that."

"But Bassy!" When the thing tried to pounce on him again, Sebastian grabbed its shoulder and threw it into the pond as he had intended to earlier.

He started walking towards where the scent was coming from even before he heard the splash that made him smirk slightly, especially when he heard the thing wail about being wet. There wasn't time to concentrate on that at the moment. The blood he smelt on the wind had been strong, so that probably meant that there was a lot of it, but it smelt too fresh for it to have been coming from a corpse.

Once he had reached the trees that surrounded the estate he stopped walking and started running. Just because the blood wasn't from a dead body didn't mean that whoever was bleeding wouldn't be dead soon if he didn't hurry up. In hindsight, he probably should have brought something with him so that he could cover the wounds that were causing his quarry to bleed, but there probably wasn't enough time for him to have done that anyway. He would just have to use it coat or something.

He paused to sniff the air several times, making sure he was still going in the right direction, and soon enough the scent was almost on top of him. He slowed his pace to a calm walk and began to scout the area. If his sense of smell was anything to go by, then he was very close. And even though he had very good eyesight, being a demon after all, there was no moon tonight to see by and the light of the stars could barely break through the thick canopy of leaves overhead.

There was just enough light however to make out the prone figure lying on the ground surrounded by blood. And he knew that by the white hair, although caked with blood, still had the same shape as the last time he had seen it. As he walked closer a twig snapped under his foot and the man cracked open an eye, his brow furrowed.

A smile grew on his face at the sight in front of him. "Well now, isn't this interesting?" he said quietly as Kakashi's eyes rolled back and he fell into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as the man was no longer conscious, the butler rushed forward, removing both his jacket and shirt as fast as he could without tearing them. It would have been pointless to tear the fine clothes, even if he was about to use them to stop the man from bleeding to death. He assessed the prone form in front of him as soon as he dropped to his knees, trying to work out which wounds were the most serious.

What he noticed first was that the left arm was broken and the right dislocated, meaning he would have to be mindful of both. It also appeared that either his legs or his knees were broken. Many of the bleeding wounds that littered his entire body had only punctured the skin and were of no serious concern. There was however a deep breath that he assumed was on his front because he couldn't see it. It was also likely that he had several cracked or broken ribs to add to the mix.

Satisfied with his assessment, he secured several sturdy branches, the straightest ones he could find on short notice, into the left sleeve of his jacket and carefully slid Kakashi's broken arm into it, tying the limb into place when he was done. He then tore the stitching out of the shoulder before tearing the rest of the jacket into long, wide strips that he used to bandage as many of the wounds as possible, as well as securing the dislocated arm to his chest without putting too much pressure on the ribs.

Sebastian then tore several strips of fabric from the bottom of his shirt to tire off the rest of the wounds and pulled the remainder of his shirt back over his shoulders. He sighed in disappointment when he discovered that his shirt reached only to the base of his ribs. It was beside the point however as he could not hear the man's breathing beginning to become increasingly laboured and his heart rate was slowing down.

"Damn," he hissed, carefully lifting Kakashi into his arms and cradling him in his arms as gently, and as securely as he could. One he was sure that he had a firm hold on the unconscious man he took off, running as fast as his demonic abilities allowed him.

Luckily for him it took him mere seconds to reach the manor and as he reached the door to the servants' quarters he slowed to a speed that humans were capable of. Sebastian kicked the door open and rushed inside, heading straight towards his sparse, barely used room. It was fortunate that he had to pass the doors that led to the other servant's rooms, as he would need their assistance.

"Bardroy! Finnian! Tanaka! Wake up this instant!" he yelled through the wood, kicking the bottom of the door as he did. "I need your help!"

There was the hurried scuffling of feet behind the door and seconds later the incompetent cook was there, standing straight backed with a serious look on his face. Behind him Finnian was blearily getting to his feet as he wiped sleep from his eyes and Tanaka was standing at the foot of his bed, ready to act.

"What do you want at this time of – bloody hell! What happened to him?" Bardroy said, noticing the bleeding man in the butler's arms.

"I don't know, but I need your help now or he'll die!" Sebastian said quickly. "Finnian, I need you fill the largest pot in the kitchen with water and boil it before bringing it to my quarters. Tanaka, please wake Mey-Rin and tell her I need a strong needle and thread, as well as small towels, clean bed linens and bandages. Bardroy-."

"I know what to do. I've seen stuff like this before. I know how to stitch a man back up," Bardroy said grimly, jaw clenched tightly.

"Thank you, now please hurry!" Sebastian and Bardroy hurried off to the butler's room while the other two men hurried off to fulfil their designated tasks. Bardroy ran in front of him to open the door to the room and strip the top sheets and blanket off the bed. The moment Sebastian laid Kakashi down on the bed the cook had started tearing the sheet into strips.

The two men worked in perfect synchronisation with each other, Sebastian removing the blood soaked remains of his uniform and tossing them onto the floor. He then covered the open wounds with the strips that Bardroy handed him before moving onto the next injury. When clothing got in the way they carefully pulled it away, leaving the injured man lying on the mattress in only his underwear. By the time they were done, there was a pile of bloody rags on the floor next to Sebastian's feet, and Kakashi almost looked like a mummy. There was barely an inch of skin on him that wasn't covered in bandages.

At some point Tanaka had come in, a large stack of sheets and towels in his arms, topped with a bowl filled with bandages and a needle and thread. He knew to stay back until they were done, and so the moment they were done he stepped forward and put them on the bedside table. Then he and Bardroy left the room, hurrying off – Sebastian supposed – to the kitchen.

Once he was alone, he covered his face with his hands and sighed loudly. While he had hoped somewhat – back in the deep recesses of his mind – that he would meet the white haired man again, it never crossed his mind that they would reunite under the circumstances that they did. It wasn't what he had hoped for at all (not that he _had_ been hoping). He would have preferred that they met under calm, controlled conditions. Not finding the man bleeding to death in the woods.

Taking a deep breath to regain his composure, he straightened his back and strode over to his wardrobe. He pulled open the door and stripped out of the remains of the shirt he was currently wearing. Once it had joined the ruined pile of clothes on the floor he pulled out one of his old, already stained shirts so that he didn't have to ruin another with blood stains.

He was just buttoning his collar when Bardory came back in, followed closely by Finnian who was carrying a large pot of steaming water. Tanaka put one of the towels he had carried in earlier on the floor and Finnian put the pot down on it, a small amount of water splashing over the sides as he did. After that he ran back out of the room, looking a little pale.

"Tanaka, can you have Finnian boil more water," Sebastian said, not looking at him as he pushed up his sleeves and stepped towards the bed.

"Yes sir," Tanaka bowed slightly and walked quickly out of the room.

"Bardory, sterilise a needle and be ready to start stitching the moment I have cleaned the area," he said calmly, looking up to see Bardroy nod and start trying thread off into the needle he was using. He then dropped it in the pot of water, holding onto the string so that he didn't lose it in the water. Bardroy moved to the side of the bed and nodded again.

Sebastian then placed a roll of bandage next to Kakashi's torso and dipped one of the towels into the boiling water. After wringing excess water out of the cloth, he pulled the make-shift sheet bandages away from the largest wound in Kakashi's abdomen. He then cleaned the drying blood away before Bardroy swooped in and started stitching the gash shut.

Closing and cleaning the wounds was a long, arduous task that took several hours and two new pots of boiling water. By the time they were done, the sun was close to rising over the horizon and everyone, excluding Sebastian, was desperate for sleep. He allowed them to retreat to their room to get a few hours sleep after they had carefully lifted Kakashi off the bed so that they could change the sheet under him. They then put him back on the bed and carefully remade the bed around him.

Once the room only had two occupants again, he built a fire in his rarely used fireplace, making sure that it would burn hot for a long time without needing to be seen to. He knew that Kakashi probably had pneumonia, so it was vital that he kept warm. If he didn't then his situation would definitely get worse, and he might not recover. As it was now, he wasn't sure when the ninja woke up, or what condition he would be in when he did.

Satisfied with the fire he had built he stripped out of his dirty shirt and peeled his blood soaked gloves off his hands. He threw the clothes onto the floor to join the pile that he had moved onto a towel. By now the sun was rising, and he didn't have much time until his Young Master would be wanting his tea. Not wanting to waste any time, he wrapped the dirty clothes in the towel and hurried out of the room to dump them in the laundry, before hurrying back to get dressed properly.

Satisfied with the way everything was currently playing out, he hurried into the kitchen to prepare his Master's tea.

* * *

"I heard some commotion last night Sebastian," Ciel said coolly, sipping nonchalantly at his tea. Sebastian was surprised by the statement, but schooled his features perfectly so that nothing showed in his face.

"Is that so?" Sebastian said calmly, standing at attention behind the boy like any good butler should.

"Yes. I would like to know what it was about." There was no question involved, so Sebastian had no choice but to answer in full honesty.

"Last night I came across…a _friend_ of mine who was in a bad situation. I brought him back to the manor and had the other servants help me ensure his survival," he said evenly.

Ciel snorted at his words. "You? A friend? That's laughable. What really happened?"

That annoyed Sebastian. How dare that stupid human accuse him of lying? "Young Master, you _know_ that I don't tell lies. I found someone I know in the woods outside the manor in a dire state. I brought him back to my quarters and had the other servants help me save his life. That is all, I swear my Young Lord," he said with a slight bow.

The boy was quiet for a few moments, taking another sip of his tea before setting the cup down on the saucer with a small clink. "Very well. Move him into one of the guest rooms and see to it that he has all the things necessary to ensure his health."

"Yes Young Master," Sebastian bowed again, hiding his smile behind the hair that fell across his face.

* * *

The room was hot. That was the first thing that registered in his mind. The second was that he was sweating because of that heat. The third was that every part of his body hurt in some way or another. Fourth, his body felt stiff and unused, almost as if he had overworked every muscle for days in a row. Fifth he was itchy. Terribly, terribly itchy. It felt like ants were crawling over his skin, or hundreds of mosquitoes were biting him at the same time. Either way it was unpleasant.

He couldn't gage anything about his surroundings without getting up and looking around. But he didn't feel like doing that. Even though it felt like he had been sleeping for a month, he was exhausted and didn't want to open his eyes or sit up for move at all. Although it would probably be a good idea if he did. You know, just in case he had been captured by the enemy and they were just waiting for him to wake up so they could begin to torture him to their hearts content. That wouldn't be fun. If that was the case, then he should probably get up and see if he could work out how to escape.

This internal debate lasted for a few minutes before his instinct won out, telling him that he needed to at least open his eyes and see where he was. So, despite the fact that he really didn't want to, Kakashi forced his eyes open and found himself squinting at a high, ornate ceiling in a room that he had absolutely not recognition of. He tried to look around, but the light movement made his head hurt and a twinge of pain shoot through his neck.

Furrowing his brow at the pain, he then noticed that most of his face was covered in bandages. That was odd. If he had been captured then why would his enemies bother to bandage his injuries? Unless he hadn't been captured but instead had been found by a farmer and his wife and they had taken pity on him and decided the help him out. That would be nice. Unlikely, but nice.

He heard a door open somewhere on the other side of the room and instinctively moved his head in that direction, groaning when pain shot through his spine. What he saw though, made him forget the pain as anger boiled inside him. Why was he here? Was it him who had treated his wounds? If so, he was beginning to wonder if he wanted to be taken care of by him.

"Ah, it seems you're finally awake. That's good to see," Sebastian said courteously, a pleasant smile crossing his features.

"Why are you here?" he hissed through clenched teeth.

"If it weren't for me, then you would have bled out in the woods over a week ago," the man in black said, dropping his polite airs as the door closed behind him.

"Yeah, well I would have preferred that to seeing your face again," Kakashi said, rolling his head so he was looking away, despite how much the movement hurt.

"So you wish you were dead? You would really prefer that over being in my company?" the butler asked smoothly. "How sad."

"Shut up!" Kakashi roared, shooting up into a sitting position so that he could glare at the other man. "I almost died after the last time I met you! Not only that but I gave you my trust and you destroyed it! Why the hell would I ever want to see you again?!" he reached around behind him and grabbed one of the pillows he had been using and tossed it across the room as hard as he could. He was only mildly satisfied when Sebastian had to raise a hand to deflect the object. "Get out! I don't want to see you!"

Sebastian frowned at him, but did as he asked and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. The moment he was out of sight, Kakashi flopped onto his side, curling up in a ball as pain flowed through his body, both emotional and physical. He didn't want to see Sebastian again. Ever. Now he just had to convince himself of that.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm quite pleased with the reception I got for the first two chapters of this story. It's good to know that people who read the first story are also reading this one, and that I may have snagged a few new readers at the same time :3**

**Please, as all writers say, review to tell me what you think! If I know people are enjoying the story then I'll be even more excited to write the next chapter :)**

**And Renge43, I don't mind at all if you share this with people. Send it to as many people as you like! The more the merrier! **

Kakashi had worked out that while he had likely cracked them, it was very unlikely that his kneecaps were actually broken. The good thing about that was that he would be able to get back on his feet sooner. The bad thing was that both his knees ached and he was stuck in bed for the time being. A doctor had come by in the afternoon on the day that he had woken up, giving him a proper diagnosis and giving praise to whoever had sewn his wounds closed. He had also revealed that his pneumonia had only been mild and had already cleared itself up. When he had been inspecting the wounds on his face, Kakashi had been lucky enough that the doctor didn't try to see his left eye, merely stating that the wound must have been painful. At least he didn't have to explain to someone what his sharingan was.

Before the doctor had left, his left arm had been covered in plaster so that the bone could heal properly, and even though he was told by a doctor to keep it in a sling, he had almost regained complete mobility of his right. The doctor had been unable to determine the state of his knees, so he had just told him to stay off his feet and keep them in a splint. He would be coming back in a week to check on him, and if the condition of his knees hadn't improved, he would plaster his legs as well.

To try and avoid that, Kakashi had been attempting to stand on his own using the bed as support, but so far he hadn't been able to stand up without leaning most of his weight against the bed post. He knew that he wouldn't need to have plaster on his legs, he could move his feet just fine, the only issue was that he was in pain whenever he did move his legs, feet or toes.

It annoyed him to no end and he was beginning to get frustrated, both with himself and everything about this world. No one he had met seemed to have a mite of chakra, and he had nothing to do. He had tried to ask the maid if she could bring him a book or something whenever she came in with his meal, but as soon as he spoke she blushed and ran out of the room squealing. Seeing as she was the only one he ever saw, and he had been bedridden for three days now, it was beginning to get annoying.

Although, much to his embarrassment, he did have to get Sebastian to help him bathe and go to the toilet.

Just the thought of the man made his face get hot, but also send cold shivers down his spine. He didn't know if he should allow the man to explain himself or just ignore him until he was well enough to try and find his way home. The problem was that he had no idea how long it would be before he was well enough to walk on his own. Especially when he couldn't even stand up by himself yet.

As he was contemplating trying to stand again, there was a knock at the door before it swung open, revealing a man who he hadn't seen before. He was wearing a white chef's uniform, and had a chewed up cigarette sticking out of the corner of his mouth. The man was carrying a tray of food, so Kakashi assumed that he was here instead of the maid.

"Afternoon," he muttered quietly, thankfully glad that the maid wasn't here.

"Yeah, afternoon. Mei-Rin was caught up doing laundry, so I brought you your lunch instead," the man said with a crooked smile, scratching the back of his head self consciously.

"Thanks. I'm guessing Mei-Rin is the maid?" he said, groaning slightly as he pushed himself into a sitting position. One thing that was good about this room that he was stuck in was that the bed was really comfortable.

"Got that one right. I'm Bardroy by the way. I'm the chef," he said the last bit with a tad more enthusiasm that the rest of it. Clearly he enjoyed his job.

"Kakashi Hatake," the ninja said, taking the tray as it was offered and carefully setting it onto his lap.

"Are your stitches okay? I mean, they're not pulling or infected or anything are they?"

"No, they're fine," Kakashi said through a mouthful of bread. He felt awkward not wearing a mask all the time like normal, but considering that these people weren't from his world, then it didn't matter quite as much.

Bardroy let out a low whistle. "Thank god. It's been ages since I've had to stitch anyone up, and I was a bit worried about how I did it."

"You did a really good job," he said with a smile. "And thanks, I appreciate what you did."

"No problem," Bardroy replied, grinning like a fool. "If there's anything you need, just say so and I'll see what I can do."

Kakashi paused, chewing slowly on a chunk of lamb. He didn't often get to eat his food slowly – if he stayed here too long then it may become habit, which wasn't a good thing. He nodded, finished chewing and swallowed before he spoke. "Could I have a book or something? It gets kinda boring just sitting in this room all day."

"Yeah sure! I'll do that right away!" Bardroy said excitedly, nodding his head and waving as he hurried out of the room.

Kakashi stared at where he had last been for a few seconds before shaking his head. "That guy was weird."

True to his word, Bardroy returned an hour later pushing a trolley heavily laden with books. Grinning like an idiot he left the trolley next to the bed so that the books would be within easy reach and departed with the now empty tray. Neither of them had said anything during the exchange, and Kakashi was glad to avoid another awkward conversation with the chef.

Groaning as his still stiff muscles were stretched, he lent across the bed to inspect the multitude of books that he had been presented with. There weren't any titles he was familiar with, and none of them seemed to be in the same genre as his favourite series, but after sifting through the piles for a few minutes he found two paperbacks that looked interesting. One was about a detective and the other about man with a split personality. He weighed the two books in his hands, and decided on the heavier of the two, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He put the other book on top of the pile to read later, settled himself into the comfortable pillows behind him and started to read.

Although it wasn't the genre that he preferred to read, the jonin soon found himself completely absorbed in the story. He didn't actually stop reading until he felt sleepiness itching in the corners of his eyes. Sighing, he lowered the book onto his lap and stretched out his neck and shoulders with a happy groan. When he glanced at the clock on the mantle above the fireplace, he was surprised to see that he had been reading for almost six hours. The only time he could remember reading for that long was when Naruto had given him the new Make-Out Tactics book.

Wanting to bookmark where he was, he rummaged through the chest of drawers next to the bed to see if there was anything he could use. Discovering that the closest one held nothing of use he dragged himself across the bed so that he could search the other drawers that were within reach from the bed. When the second chest of drawers also contained nothing he grumbled and was about to consider trying to walk to the drawers on the other side of the room.

"Would this help?" said a soft voice in his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. He looked down and saw a gloved hand holding an elegantly painted bookmark with a silk tassel hanging from a loop in the top.

"Yes it would," he said curtly, snatching the bookmark from the gloved hand and putting it between the pages he was reading. When he closed the covers of the book, a hand gently placed itself on his shoulder while another carefully pried the book out of his hands.

"Would you like your dinner brought to your room? Or would you be so obliged as to join my Master for dinner? He has extended this invitation several times now, and you have turned him down for the past three days," Sebastian said coolly, his breath ghosting against the back of Kakashi's neck.

"I would, but I'm afraid that I can't walk," Kakashi almost growled, sliding across the mattress to put some distance between him and the butler.

"That would not be a problem. We happen to have a wheelchair, and the room my Master shall be dining in is on this floor," Sebastian said as he walked around the bed so he could put the book on top of the trolley.

"You're just full of reasons why I should meet your master, aren't you?" Kakashi muttered, moving back to the centre of the bed.

"Well, he is letting you stay here without an explanation. I believe that he has a right to meet his mysterious guest." The butler smirked, not looking at Kakashi and busying himself with tidying the pile of books.

"Do I have a choice?" Kakashi huffed, flopping back onto the pillows and scowling.

"Of course, however you will have to face him at some point. It is only the polite thing to do after all."

Kakashi stared at the ceiling for a few moments, clenching and unclenching his fists on top of the covers. "Fine," he growled, rolling his head to the side because he could completely roll onto his side.

"Very good. I will be back in half an hour with a change of clothes for you." Kakashi could practically hear the smirk in the butler's voice as he crossed the room and closed the door with a click behind him.

* * *

An hour later, and Kakashi was sitting in a wheelchair, picking at his food with a fork, trying not to squirm under the intense gaze that the boy sitting at the head of the table kept shooting at him. Sebastian was standing motionlessly behind him, a blank expression on his face. They were already on the second course of the meal and no words had been spoken.

If anything, it felt like he was being studied. And he really didn't like it. It also unnerved him that the boy – who couldn't be older than twelve – had an eye patch over his right eye, and had an air of arrogance and superiority that just ticked the jonin off.

He felt even more uncomfortable in the clothes that Sebastian had helped him change into. The pants were fitted and didn't have an inch of stretch in them, making them uncomfortable to sit in, and the stiff, long sleeved white shirt was scratchy and the things Sebastian called suspenders were just plain annoying. At least he wasn't wearing shoes.

He had just scooped up another forkful of mash potato and was about to stuff it in his mouth when the boy coughed quietly and set his own cutlery down with a quiet clink. Kakashi paused, looking at the boy suspiciously. When nothing happened, he decided to continue eating. It was halfway through his second mouthful when the boy finally began to speak.

"So," he began, in a bored, drawling tone that Kakashi instantly disliked. "You are friends with Sebastian."

Kakashi snorted. "We know each other if that's what you mean."

"I suppose," he paused then, reaching forward and taking a slow, leisurely drink from his glass. "How did you two meet by the way?" at this, the boy leaned forward, resting his elbows on the edge of the table and folding his hand together under his chin.

"Why not ask him?" Kakashi asked defensively, nodding his head at the butler, who had yet to move.

"Because knowing Sebastian, he will probably tell me the most glossed over version he can think of, avoiding the most important parts. Even though he cannot lie, he doesn't have to tell me the whole story," the boy said, waving him off and glaring over his shoulder at the man in question.

"Really?" Kakashi smirked. "So basically you want to know if I have any dirt on your 'oh-so-perfect-butler', don't you?"

The boy smirked in return. "Something like that, yes."

Thoughtfully, Kakashi took another mouthful of food, set his cutlery down and chewed slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. As he swallowed he raised his head to stare at the intricate designs on the ceiling. "Honestly, not much to tell. He appeared on my territory and I went to investigate with a team. We attacked him and brought him back to my village. He was interrogated and then, once given the benefit of the doubt, he was let go. That's all there is to it really."

"And all of this happened within the space of a day, did it?" the boy asked bitterly.

_A day? But he was in Konaha for almost two weeks!_ Confused by the drastic differences in time, Kakashi was still able to perfectly school his features into a calm façade. "Yes. My people are very efficient. They don't waste time on much."

There was a moment of silence between the two, the kind of silence that was on the verge of being tense, but hadn't quite reached that point yet. The quiet stretched on for a few more seconds before the boy picked up his knife and fork and resumed eating. Kakashi stared at him suspiciously for a few seconds, then returned to his meal as well.

No more words were exchanged between them as they finished their main course and into dessert. When he had finished the slice of black forest cake and drained his cup of tea, the boy got up from his seat, bade him good night and left the room, ordering Sebastian to help Kakashi back to his room and get Mei-Rin to clean up. Sebastian bowed as his master left, and only straightened up when he could no longer hear the boy's footsteps.

Without saying anything Sebastian instantly started collecting up the plates and cups from the table and stacking them neatly on the trolley by the far wall. Once that was done he crossed the room and tugged gently on a rope hanging from the ceiling by the door. He then started to straighten up the chairs and the tablecloth.

"Okay I'm bored now," Kakashi droned, letting his head fall back on his shoulders and half-staring at the wall behind him through lidded eyes.

"Why, are you voluntarily speaking to me?" Sebastian asked, pretending to be shocked and bewildered by the mere thought.

"Your sarcasm is both entertaining and unwanted," the ninja said evenly, lifting his head to glare at the butler.

"But I was being quite serious," Sebastian said lightly, his tone chastising but playful. There was a moment of silence between the two, in which Sebastian smirked and Kakashi glared. "I take it you want to go to bed then?"

"If you would be so kind," Kakashi said with an overly polite tone.

"Very well then," Sebastian said, reverting back to his professional mode. He crossed the room in a few long strides to stand behind the wheelchair. He carefully pulled Kakashi away from the table and guided him across the room, through the door and down the corridor. On the way they passed Mei-Rin, and Sebastian paused to tell her to pack up the dining room without breaking anything.

After that there were no more interruptions and they were back in front of the room Kakashi was using. Sebastian stepped away from him for a moment so he could open the door and light several of the oil lamps inside. When he returned to Kakashi he wheeled him to the edge of the bed and was about to help the ninja out of the chair, but stopped when the white haired man held up a hand to stop him.

"I can do it myself," Kakashi said darkly, glaring up at the butler. "Just hold the chair in place."

Sebastian looked like he wanted to argue, but instead furrowed his brow and nodded. Holding the chair firmly in place, he gave Kakashi a nod. The ninja grabbed the arms of the chair and lifted himself up enough to be able to swing his hips onto the bed. He then pulled himself onto the bed fully and lay down with a sigh. He stayed still for a few seconds then sat up and started to undress himself.

When Sebastian tried to help him, he swatted the hand away angrily. He was still trying to convince himself that he didn't want any more help from the man than was absolutely necessary. And the more the man tried to help him the more his resolve weakened. How could one night make him change so much?

Once he had removed the shirt and pants, and was sitting on the bed in nothing but his underwear, he glanced around, hoping that the pyjamas he had been wearing were close. To his dismay, he saw Sebastian getting a new set out of the chest of drawers on the other side of the room.

He held out his hands for the clothes when Sebastian stopped in front of him, but he didn't hand him the clothes. Frowning, Kakashi lunged forward, trying to snatch them out of his hands, but to his anger Sebastian took half a step back and he almost fell off the bed. Clenching his teeth, he pushed himself back onto the bed, flopped onto the pillows and angrily crossed his arms over his chest.

"Come now, don't sulk," Sebastian said playfully, stepping up to the bed again.

"Then stop messing around. I want to go to bed," Kakashi growled.

"Fine then. Here you go," the butler smirked, and held out the pyjamas.

Kakashi eyes them suspiciously for a moment before finally reaching out to grab them. As he did though, a gloved hand shot out and gripped him by the back of the neck. Before he could react, he had been pulled forward and a pair of lips had crashed down on top of his own. Kakashi squirmed, trying to get away, but soon found himself melting into the kiss when a soft tongue pushed its way past his lips.

It seemed to soon though, before Sebastian was pulling away, placing the pyjamas in Kakashi's lap and smirking.

"Good night," Sebastian said in barely more than a whisper.

Going red, Kakashi glared at the butler, who just crossed the room with a pleased smile. Kakashi grabbed one of his many pillows and threw it at him, but this time he ducked under it. As he left, Kakashi could hear the dark haired man laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

Something very odd was going on with the rate at which Kakashi was healing from his injuries. It was in no way fast enough to match the speed with which Tsunade could heal him, but it was considerably faster than healing normally. Especially considering his chakra was still recovering at a slow, arduous rate. The speed that his body _should_ be healing at.

Needless to say, he was very suspicious.

While he was happy to be able to walk on his own already, he shouldn't be able to. Sure, he might be able to support his weight and walk really, really slowly, he was able to comfortably jog around his room with only a slight amount of pain. Not only that, but he could feel that his broken arm had pretty much fixed itself. He was certain that the injury was now no worse than a slight fracture or even just a nasty sprain.

The deep gashes in his abdomen no longer ached when the stitches pulled, but the stitches were becoming an annoyance. So were the bandages. At the rate he was recovering, he probably didn't need most of them anymore. Hopefully he could also ditch the plaster cast on his arm. Once he had tried using his fork to scratch an itch inside the annoying thing, but Sebastian had come back before he could and put a stop to it.

And on the subject of the butler, the dark haired man was also becoming bolder in his actions. Sure, he hadn't gone any further than kissing, but he was doing it more frequently and whenever he was helping the ninja outside of his room. It was annoying, but he couldn't honestly admit that he totally hated it. Not that he would ever say that out loud.

He was now usually out of his room for meals with the master of the household, Ciel Phantomhive. Something that he would admit though, was that the child was an absolute brat. He was reminded of the arrogance that Sasuke had shown, being one of the great Uchiha, and sometimes was as emotionless as Sai. The only thing that really seemed to interest him was information about Kakashi.

Not wanting to reveal the secrets of his village, the jonin tended to gloss over most of the information about his past and where he was from. He was pretty sure that Ciel knew he wasn't telling him everything, but didn't press the fact. What he was learning seemed to be interesting enough. Kakashi told him that he was a ninja and that he was one of the best in his village, and that he frequently left his village to visit and assist other ones and the people in them.

He didn't mention his comrades, his suffering and heartbreak, or his past relationship with Sebastian.

They would talk through their meals, and then Ciel would leave to attend to whatever business he did and left Sebastian to clean up. During that time, because Kakashi wasn't fast enough to run away yet, Sebastian would molest his face for a few minutes and then walk off with a smirk on his face. Kakashi would then hobble off back to his room and try to distract himself with one of the books Bardroy had brought in for him. For the most part it worked, expect when Sebastian escorted him back to his room and kissed him for a while longer.

Today Kakashi was sitting under the large windows in his room, reading about the detective Sherlock Holmes, when there was a quiet knock at the door. Rolling his eyes he slid a bookmark in between the pages to mark where he was up to and placed the closed book on his lap.

"Come in," he said loudly, leaning his head against the high backed chair.

"How has your morning been?" Ciel asked with an obviously practiced pleasant tone to it. He walked confidently into the room, Sebastian standing like a shadow behind him.

"Fine thanks. I'm enjoying reading from your collection of books," Kakashi said, indicating the book in his lap.

"I'm glad that your enjoy it. I don't often have time to just settle down and read," Ciel said, almost sadly. There were a few moments of awkward silence before the boy continued. "I have been summoned to London, and I request that you accompany me. You see, I'm sure that if I left you alone with my incompetent staff they would probably end up killing you somehow."

Kakashi through about it for a few moments, staring thoughtfully out the window. "I suppose. Although I might slow you down a bit," he said, pointing at his legs.

"That will not be an issue. I had Sebastian order a cane for you," he waved his hand slightly and the butler stepped forward, holding out an elegant wooden cane with a polished metal handle and foot.

"Huh. I guess you really want me to come, don't you?" Kakashi said sarcastically. When he got nothing but a cold glare in return, he sighed and held out his hand for the cane. "I suppose there wouldn't be any harm in getting out of the house for a while."

"Very good. I'll have Sebastian help you get some things together. We will be departing a little after noon, and shall have a light lunch on the terrace before we leave."

"Okay then. I'll see you in a few hours I suppose…" Kakashi said absently, trailing off slightly when Ciel turned on his heel and marched out of the room. "Little brat."

"I would appreciate it if you would not insult my Master when in my presence," Sebastian said mockingly, a false smile plastered across his face.

"Whatever," Kakashi muttered, turning away to stare out of the window. He felt Sebastian lean his cane against the chair and soon heard him moving around the room, gathering clothes from the wardrobe and laying them out on the bed. He left the room for a few minutes and when he returned he was carrying a small trunk to pack the clothes into. Once that was done, he left the room again, probably to do the same thing for the young brat.

After a few minutes of staring out the window, Kakashi picked up his book again, but couldn't focus on reading. As much as he didn't want to, he couldn't stop thinking about the trip to London. He had never heard of the place before, but it must be important if an Earl was summoned to go there. Perhaps it would be an interesting learning experience. And he was also interested to see what kind of country he was in. Everything he had seen so far was completely different from everything he was used to, and he wanted to know if there were any similarities to his homeland.

Realising that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on his book anymore, he left it on the side table next to the chair and looked down at his newly acquired cane. He had to admit, it was a fine piece of workmanship. There were no bends or imperfections in the wood, and the silver handle was embellished with an ornate design. He slowly got to his feet, using the cane to support his weight. The handle fit comfortably in the palm of his hand, and when he took a few tentative steps, he was able to walk easily, trusting that the cane could easily support his weight.

Kakashi strolled around his room for a while after that, getting used to using the cane to support his weight. At first he felt completely off balance, but once he got used to it, he figured out how he could use the cane to his advantage if he got into a fight. Not that he actually planned on getting into any fights for a while yet.

Time seemed to pass for too quickly for the ninja however, as before he knew it, Sebastian was back at his door, informing him that lunch was ready and that he would be moving his trunk to the carriage. Before they left the room, Kakashi slid his shoes on, grumbling under his breath at the ridiculousness of the design. They left the room at the same time, Sebastian carrying the trunk while Kakashi carried his book in his free hand. When they reached the top of the stairs, Kakashi realised that this would be the first time he had left the floor he was staying on.

He glanced around the spacious open hall as he cautiously made his way down the stairs, the book tucked under his arm so that he could lean on the banister. There was a large chandelier hanging above an elegantly tiled floor. There were several doors leading off on either side of the room, and directly opposite the stairs was a large set of double doors that he assumed lead outside. On either side of the doors were tall pane windows, framed by polished wooden frames.

The spectacular grandeur of the room impressed the jonin, and he paused once he was at the bottom of the staircase to admire it for a while longer. An elderly man strode into the room, followed by Bardroy and a young boy wearing a checked shirt and a straw hat. Sebastian handed the trunk to them, said a few quiet words to the group before turning sharply on his heel and heading back towards Kakashi.

"If you'll follow me, we'll be going to the terrace to join Lord Phantomhive for lunch," the butler said politely, giving Kakashi a small smile. He walked at a casual pace so that Kakashi could keep up with him.

The terrace, as it turned out, overlooked the vast expanses of the garden that eventually became forest that bled into the distance. So he had turned up in this world somewhere out there. Kakashi made a mental note to investigate the area where Sebastian had found him once he was fit enough.

Ciel was sipping tea from an elegant teacup, sitting in the sun at a table that had been set up on the edge of the terrace, close to a small set of stairs that lead down into the garden. As he hobbled towards the table, he noticed a small pond at the end of a white gravel path. The path branched off in several places, vanishing between neatly trimmed hedges that surrounded small gardens. The gardens seemed to mirror each other, and were perfectly symmetrical with the ones on the other side of the path.

He was pulled from his musings when he heard a chair scrape. Looking over at the source of the sound, he saw that Sebastian had pulled a chair out for him, indicating that he should sit. Kakashi did so, only then noticing the spread of small sandwiches and cakes that had been laid out in the middle of the table. Sebastian moved to his side, and poured him a cup of tea, offering him milk and sugar. Kakashi declined, not knowing what type of tea he was drinking and wanting to taste it without changing the flavour.

What surprised him though, was that the tea was one he was familiar with. He would have to inquire was to where Sebastian acquired the green tea. There may be some way for him to work out how to get back home if he looked into it. Shelving that thought, he placed his book on the table, grabbed one of the sandwiches and started eating.

About thirty minutes later, once full of sandwiches, tea and cake, they were all seated in the carriage on plush leather covered seats. The older man –Tanaka – was driving the carriage, Kakashi and Ciel were sitting next to each other and Sebastian was sitting opposite them. All three of them were now dressed in dark coats, and both Ciel and Sebastian were wearing (in Kakashi's opinion anyway) ridiculous looking tall hats. When he was offered one, he politely refused. It was bad enough that he was wearing the strange clothes of this world, he wasn't going to wear the stupid hat too.

Sebastian had told him that the trip would take several hours, and because the ride was too bumpy for him to read, the jonin decided instead to sleep. It wasn't terribly difficult for him – years of training and going on missions had allowed him to condition himself with the ability to sleep pretty much anywhere. A bumpy carriage ride was no exception.

He woke the moment they stopped moving, although from what he could tell, they weren't at their destination yet. When they started moving again, he assumed he had been correct, because they stopped several more times before they finally pulled up in front of a large white building.

Sebastian got out of the carriage first, helping Ciel get out first before doing the same with Kakashi. He handed the butler his cane, and then, leaning heavily on Sebastian's offered arm, climbed out after him. His feet hit the cobblestone ground heavily, and if he hadn't already been leaning on Sebastian for support he probably would have fallen.

Heartily embarrassed, he mumbled a quick thank you before hobbling off after Ciel. He caught up with the boy at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the door, and wasn't terribly surprised that Sebastian was right behind him. The butler walked purposefully past the two of them and opened the door with a slight bow, just in time for Ciel to march inside. He waited patiently for Kakashi to cross the threshold, before hurrying back to the carriage to collect their luggage.

Kakashi sighed, wanting more than anything to be able to sit in the sun somewhere with his favourite orange book. Instead, he was in a city that was blanketed in smog, and he had yet to find a book that was even slightly raunchy. Glancing around the foyer of the building, he realised that Ciel was no longer in sight. Not knowing what else to do, he decided to go exploring.

There was a staircase off to the side, and being slightly disabled as he was, decided to look around on the ground floor. There was a large room with several comfortable looking sofas, a large until fireplace, a wall lines with bookcases and a grand display cabinet showing off delicate looking pieces of porcelain and bone china. There were half a dozen photos on the mantel above the fireplace, one depicting a man and a woman with a small, smiling boy between them. Kakashi assumed that they were Ciel's parents, although he had yet to see or hear of them.

Shrugging the thought off, he continued through the house, finding the large kitchen. Brass pots and pans lined the shelves on one wall. The wall opposite had large pane windows that looked over a small garden. There was a large pantry that currently only stocked the bare minimum, and all of that was there wasn't perishable. It would seem that there weren't people living here all the time.

With further exploration, Kakashi found another two sitting rooms, a ground floor guest room, a dinning room, a library (which he intended to study in further detail later) and what he assumed were servants' quarters. These rooms weren't furnished nearly as elaborately as the other rooms he had come across, and were painted white like the kitchen. Three of the rooms contained a single bed, dresser and wardrobe, while the fourth room had two of each. One of the single bed rooms was slightly better off than the other three, with a larger bed and a footlocker at the end of it.

Something told him that this was Sebastian's room, mainly because of how pristine everything was, almost as if they had been rarely used, if at all. He was somewhat wary of this room, almost as if there was some muted warning going off in the back of his mind. The fact that this was probably Sebastian's room intrigued him, but he felt that snooping around in it would get him in trouble.

Trusting his gut, he backed out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

Realising that he had now discovered everything the ground floor had to offer, he slowly hobbled back to the room he walked into off the street. Sebastian was standing at the bottom of the stairs, a neutral expression on his face. He was holding a silver tray in his hand, an envelope sitting on top.

"There you are," he said calmly, his voice betraying nothing. "I request that you join me and my Young Master, as we are about to have a light supper before he must retire for the evening."  
"Yeah, I suppose," Kakashi said in an off-handed voice. "What's in the letter?"

Sebastian was quite for a moment, his eyes darting to the letter for a moment before returning the calculating gaze back to the jonin. "It is for my Master. It is from the Queen."

There was something in the butler's tone that told Kakashi not to question further, at least until the Earl had seen the letter for himself. With a small nod, Kakashi started up the stairs, holding onto the banister with the hand that wasn't clutching onto his cane tightly. Sebastian followed only one step behind him, prepared to assist him if necessary.

They made it to the top of the stairs without a problem, and Sebastian quickened his pace briefly so that he could walk in front of the ninja. He pointed out the room that Kakashi would be staying in as they passed it, and Kakashi wondered why he had been put on this floor instead of the ground floor. With his injuries it would have made much more sense.

He didn't have a chance to voice his opinion, because seconds later they stopped in front of a closed door. Sebastian knocked twice, waited a few moments before Ciel called out that they could come in. The butler opened the door, stepped to the side to allow Kakashi to enter, and closed the door again. He then cross the room silently, coming to a stop slightly behind his young master and carefully placed the letter on the desk in front of him.

The boy looked down at it lazily, studying it for a few seconds before picking it up to open it. Kakashi limped across the room to stand in front of the desk, opposite the boy. Ciel glanced up at him and nodded at the chair beside him, indicating for him to sit. As he did so the boy picked up a silver letter opener that looked suspiciously like a dagger and sliced open the top of the envelope.

Kakashi sat in awkward silence, feeling completely out of place as Ciel read the letter, a frown creasing his brow. Sebastian stood stoically behind him, the tray now tucked under his arm. After Ciel had read through the letter twice, he sighed and put it on the desk in front of him.

"It would seem that the Queen has need of my assistance. Several people from noble houses have gone missing, and while the nobles themselves are fine, those that are missing have knowledge that some people do not want to get out in the open.

"Sebastian, compile a list of those that are missing. Find out what you can about them. See if they are connected to each other in any way, and if there is anywhere that they may have gone into hiding. Do that as soon as possible, then give me everything you find."

"Yes, my Young Lord," Sebastian said, bowing to his master.

"And as for you," Ciel rounded on Kakashi, who schooled his features perfectly to hide the shock he felt at suddenly being confronted. "If you have recovered sufficiently by the time Sebastian is done with this task, I request that you assist him in finding these people. From what you have told me of yourself, your skills will be of great use to me."

Kakashi considered what the boy was saying. While he had no allegiance with the boy or anyone in this world, he was being taken care of without giving anything in return. This could be his chance to show both his gratitude and make sure he stayed in shape while he was here.

"Sure, I'll help out if I'm capable of doing so," he said mildly with a shrug.

"Excellent. Now, we shall be having supper in the dining room. I will meet you there shortly. Sebastian, get everything ready," Ciel said, standing up from his chair to stand in front of the window, a clear indication that the conversation was over.

"It will be done, Young Master," Sebastian said with a bow. Just as Kakashi was beginning to stand from his chair, the butler was at his side, offering his hand to help him. The ninja grudgingly took it and was practically pull out of the chair.

Grumbling silently he regained his balance with the cane before following the butler out of the room again and back into the corridor. This time he didn't wait for Sebastian, choosing instead to continue towards the stairs. He had barely reached the top of the stairs though before the butler was at his arm, ready to provide support or catch him if need be. That annoyed Kakashi to no extent, and he blatantly ignored the dark haired man all the way down the stairs, refusing to acknowledge him, even when they reached the tiled floor.

"Are you sulking again?" Sebastian asked, the humour in his voice obvious.

"Shut up," Kakashi growled, and he heard Sebastian snigger. He was about to yell at him, but there was a knock at the door.

"Who on earth could that be?" the butler said quietly, striding past Kakashi towards the hardwood door. He grasped the door handle with a gloved hand and pulled the door open. At the last second before the door opened fully, Sebastian jumped out of the way just in to avoid something large, red and human shaped fly towards him. The person sailed through the air for a second before they crashed into the floor, wailing.

"Bassy! Why did you do that? You were supposed to catch me!"

"But I have no desire to do so," Sebastian sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"Why not? Dear Bassy, we are meant to be!"

"What the hell is going on here?" Kakashi muttered. Unfortunately, a read head snapped towards him, and he was able to take in the figure of the floor more completely. They were wearing a red coat, red high heeled shoes, red glasses and had long crimson hair. Their eyes were ringed in green and yellow, and while most people would find this odd, strange eyes were no issue in his home world. His left eye was proof of that.

"Bassy who is that?" the person said, climbing to their feet.

"He is a guest of the household, much unlike you," Sebastian said. He was very obviously struggling to keep up the niceties around this person.

"Hmm," the person in red slowly walked towards him, studying him through the red glasses. Kakashi frowned, not liking being to focus of this person. Something about them was just off, and it wasn't just the fact that he couldn't tell if they were a man or woman. He was leaning further towards man, but something about them just screamed feminine. The person in red stopped in front of him, taking in his clothes and the cane. When the person finally looked at his face, the green and yellow eyes widened and there was a loud squeal.

"What a beautiful eye you have! So red! So perfect!" the person cried out happily, launching themselves at him.

Not knowing what to do, he relied on what his gut was telling him to do. So when the person was about to land on him, he spun on his heel, dropping the cane, and slamming his right elbow and left fist into the person's gut. Time seemed to slow for a few seconds, then the person was on the floor several feet away from him, clutching their abdomen and whining loudly.

"That is Grell. He is…an acutance of ours." Sebastian seemed to struggle with the words, almost as if he was trying to be polite about something he hated. Which probably wasn't far from the truth.

"Sebastian, get him out," Ciel said coolly from the stairs. Kakashi hadn't even heard him approach.

"Right away sir," Sebastian said, smiling happily as he picked Grell up by the hair and threw him out of the still open door. He then locked the door before Grell could try and get back inside. "We tend to ignore him," he said to Kakashi, who was still slightly shocked about what had just happened.

"You have some skill for someone who is injured," Ciel said to the ninja as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "I look forward to working with you."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the wait guys! I've had writers block and I've also been drawing a lot lately, so…**

**Anyway, please enjoy this chapter! And please review! It seriously seems like the only way to get reviews is to ask for them, which I think is rather disappointing. So review, and I should hopefully update quicker!**

**On with the story!**

Kakashi woke early the next morning, a habit of his that he refused to break in such a strange, new environment. The sun had barely crested over the horizon, and warm orange light flowed into his room through a gap in the curtains. He cracked an eye open for a short while, taking in the room once again, before settling down into his pillows and feigning sleep just in case someone decided to come knocking at his door.

Although he seriously doubted his act would fool a certain butler that probably wasn't human.

Almost as if there mere thought of the man could summon him, there was a knock on his door, which then opened moments later without waiting for a reply. Foolishly hoping that the butler wouldn't disturb him if he was still sleeping, he didn't bother opening his eyes or making any sign that he was awake. When he didn't hear any footsteps moving around the room he thought that he had actually fooled the butler, but that thought was crushed instantly after it had appeared when he felt cool lips descent over his own.

Eyes snapping open he saw glowing, crimson eyes a hairs breath away from his own, staring down at him. Before he had the chance to try and move out of the way, strong hands latched onto his biceps, holding him firmly in place. He felt weight settle on the bed on either side of his legs, and realised that Sebastian was kneeling above him, preventing any chance of escape that he might have.

Regardless of that, he still squirmed and thrashed, trying to break free, but to no avail. All that he managed to do was get himself tangled in the sheets, and have Sebastian's tongue worm its way into his mouth. Sebastian pressed his body closer, his hair falling in Kakashi's face, brushing against his cheeks and sending shudders down the jonin's spine. He tried to back away, but only ended up pressing himself further into the mattress, and now had Sebastian sitting on his hips, their chest only inches apart.

When the butler finally pulled away, Kakashi turned his head sharply to the side, not wanting to look the dark haired man in the eye. Sebastian released his arms and leaned back, but didn't get off his hips. Kakashi raised an arm and wiped his mouth off on the back of his hand, trying to will away the blush that was threatening to creep over his cheeks. Above him he heard Sebastian chuckle softly.

"Why the hell do you keep doing that?" he growled, sitting up and crawling across the bed, away from the butler.

"Enjoyment? The satisfaction of seeing your blushing face?" he suggested, the damn smirk never leaving his lips.

"Yeah right," Kakashi muttered angrily.

"You want me to tell you the real reason?" Sebastian asked quietly, getting off the bed and straightening out his jacket.

"No, I want you to keep lying to me and molesting my face," Kakashi said, his voice utterly dripping with sarcasm.

That made the butler chuckle again. The dark haired man said nothing for a few moments, choosing instead to cross the room and pull open the curtains. The view was revealed to be of the buildings across the road, nothing that Kakashi found particularly interesting, so he returned his attention to the butler.

"You understand that I heal considerably faster than you do, correct?" Sebastian asked slowly after a few minutes of silence.

"…Yeah," the ninja replied after a moment or two of thinking.

"Due to that, I can accelerate your healing by transferring my bodily fluids to you, hence the kissing. This transfers saliva between the two of us."

Kakashi stared at the other man, blinking several times. "That is disgusting."

Sebastian's smirk grew wider. "Then I suppose you won't appreciate learning that I also add my blood when I cook red meat for you?"

"I'm not eating anything you give me anymore," Kakashi said with a shudder. "That's just…seriously…eew. Don't tell me that you also…you know…" The ninja gestured at Sebastian's groin absently, looking in the other direction.

"Semen? No, I have not resorted to that."

"Thank god," Kakashi breathed. What Sebastian was telling him was making him nauseous.

"And I'm afraid that if you want to heal quicker, then you will be in need of my assistance. Which means you will have to eat, and we will have to kiss." There was a certain smugness in the way he spoke that made his skin crawl.

"Isn't there any other way? You know, without what you're already doing?" Kakashi sighed. He needed fresh air, and water. Maybe some bread. That was probably the only thing he would be eating from now on.

"There is a way that doesn't involve you ingesting my blood, but you may not appreciate the idea," Sebastian said, crossing the room to open the closet and start pulling out some clothes for the ninja to wear.

"I'm up for anything at the moment," the white haired man replied.

"Sexual intercourse would be the most effective-."

"Enough! I don't want to hear anything else," Kakashi said, holding his hands up in defeat. "I'm going outside."

"Do you require any assistance?" Sebastian said, moving to his side and offering an arm.

"No. I do not," Kakashi half-growled, shoving the butler away from him and limping to the door. He grabbed his cane from the foot of the bed as he passed it and shuffled quickly out the room and down the hallway, heading for the stairs.

The house around him was almost completely silent – not that he expected anyone to be awake at this time of day. The only sounds were of the house itself creaking as the sun warmed the building and it started expanding. Cautioning a glance over his shoulder, he was pleased to see that the butler had decided against following him, and he was very much alone in the carpeted hallway. Letting out sigh of relief, he continued towards the stairs, his pace quickening slightly in his eagerness to get outside.

When he did reach the top of the stairs, he paused, glancing back down the hallway. With his sensitive hearing, he could have sworn that he heard movement from the room behind him. He knew that it wasn't the room that Ciel was using – he'd seen Sebastian moving the boy's things into a room deeper into the building. And he also knew that Sebastian wasn't in that room – the door hadn't opened.

Following his gut, he silently approached the door, tightening his grip on his cane. Pressing his ear against the painted wood, he listened intently for any sounds on the other side. There was silence for a few moments, then he heard a faint scraping noise and a muffled curse. Frowning, he pulled back from the door slightly; just enough to allow him to ease the door open and slip inside the room.

A cautionary first glance told him that the room was empty, and that there were no other doors that lead into it. What he did see was several curtained windows lining the wall, and the side of the house that he was on didn't face the street – it overlooked the small garden behind the building. Narrowing his eyes he crept towards the window closest to him, and, upon reaching it, carefully lifted the edge of the heavy fabric that was shielding the glass.

He saw nothing to begin with, but from the corner of his eye, an ever-so-slight movement caught his attention. Turning his head slowly so as not to draw attention to himself, he faced the place where the movement came from. Much to his surprise, he saw a man scaling the side of the building, dressed completely in black, a knife attached to his belt. As he watched, the man's foot slipped on the smooth brick and he fumbled to catch himself before he fell, cursing under his breath again.

When he saw the man pause and start counting the number of windows he's passed, Kakashi ducked out of view and hurried out of the room. It was of no surprise to him why that man was climbing around on the outside of a building; he himself had done it enough times. Ducking out of the room, hr hobbled as fast as he could towards Ciel's room, knowing that that was where the man in black was headed.

Luckily for him, the Earl's room was only two doors down from the room he was currently in, and it only took him a moment to reach the door he needed. As he grasped the handle and it began to turn, he heard the tell-tale creak of window opening inside the room. Following habit, he entered the room as quickly as he could, opening the door the barest amount possible as he did, and dropping his cane before he went in.

Silently shutting the door behind him, he crept around the dark edges of the room, ducking behind a large chest of drawers when one of the curtains shifted and light momentarily flooded the room. From behind the curtain, a pair of feet softly hit the carpeted floor, and soon after the man Kakashi had seen outside stepped into view. He pulled his head out of sight as the man glanced around the room

Only when he heard muffled footsteps did the jonin dare to poke his head out of hiding once again. He saw the man slowly approaching the large, four-poster bed where the young Earl lay sleeping. With the man's attention focused on his target, Kakashi was able to creep out from behind the draws to hide at the foot of the bed. He paused for a moment to make sure he wasn't seen, then crawled under the bed, towards the approaching feet. As he watched, the feet steadily came closer and closer, before finally stopping just in front of the bed.

"Time to die, Queen's Dog," the man muttered from somewhere above him.

Without hesitating for a moment, Kakashi lunged forward, grabbing the man's ankles and pulling them sharply towards him. The man cried out as his feet were suddenly pulled out from beneath him, and he landed on his back with a heavy thud that knocked the air out of his lungs. With another dull thud, the knife hit the ground beside him. While the man was still stunned, Kakashi dived out from under the bed, landing on top of the stranger and pinning him to the floor. Having regained his senses, the man struggled and thrashed in the ninja's grip, but Kakashi only held on tighter, managing to flip the man onto his side and pinning his arms behind his back with one hand. When the man still continued to thrash around, Kakashi grabbed the knife from where it had fallen and pressed it against the stranger's cheek.

"Stop moving. Now," Kakashi growled icily, putting as much venom into his voice as he could muster. Seeing how close the blade of the knife was to his eye, the man swallowed and nodded slightly, his entire body going ridged.

"My, my. Your skills are quiet impressive, aren't they?"

Kakashi frowned and glanced over his shoulder, seeing Sebastian standing a few feet away from him, the Earl standing behind him, an impassive look covering his features. Clearly this was something the boy was used to.

"Care to give me a hand? Or are you just going to stand there and look?" Kakashi muttered, squeezing the man's wrist when he felt him move.

"Of course. I shall return in a moment with some rope to bind him. Young Master, if you would accompany me to the kitchen, I shall prepare you some tea. You will also be safer there, should anyone else attempt to break in," Sebastian said with a bow. He then turned on his heel and ushered Ciel out of the room with him, and soon the house was silent again, save for the heavy breathing of the man Kakashi was pressing into the floor.

Still holding him in place, Kakashi rearranged himself so that he was now sitting on the man's lower back, holding both of his arms twisted behind his back with one hand. He kept the knife pressed against the man's cheek, and pressed it harder whenever the man so much as twitched. They stayed like this for almost twenty minutes until Sebastian returned, a coil of heavy rope thrown over his shoulder.

Kakashi waited until the butler was at his side before dropping the knife within arm's reach and grabbing both the man's wrists so that Sebastian could tie them together. He sat back slightly to give the other man enough space, and once Sebastian was in control of the situation he climbed off the man and retrieved his cane from where he had dropped it in the hallway.

Now that the adrenalin was beginning to wear off, he was starting to feel the pain from putting strain on his still healing wounds. His arm felt fine, but his abdomen and knees were aching and he wanted nothing more than a hot bath to soothe his aches and pains. Glancing back into the room, he saw that Sebastian had finished tying up the man's wrists and was now dragging him out of the room by his collar. Before he could slip away, Sebastian grabbed his arm and guided him down the hallway with him.

When they reached the stairs, Sebastian had to release his grip on the ninja so that he could throw the man over his shoulder to carry him down. The butler then indicated for him to head down first, and Kakashi's chance at escape was gone again. Once at the bottom of the stairs Sebastian took him by the wrist and together they headed towards the kitchen. Inside, Ciel was sitting at the large table in the middle of the room, sipping tea from an elegant looking porcelain teacup.

"The culprit, Young Master,' Sebastian said with a bow, dropping the man gracelessly onto the hard, concrete floor.

"Thank you Sebastian. Go put him somewhere where he can't bother us for a while. We shall question him later," Ceil said nonchalantly, waving him off without bothering to look at him.

"Of course, sir. I know just the place." And, with another bow, Sebastian dragged the man out of the room.

"I would like to offer my thanks to you, Mr Hatake. I hate to say it, but if Sebastian had been the one to stop that man, he would have left it to the last moment, if only for dramatic effect if nothing else," the boy said, looking at him without turning his head.

"It's no problem," Kakashi replied. An awkward silence grew between the two of them for a few minutes before Sebastian returned, a pleased smirk on his face.

"Now Sebastian, I wish to get dressed,' Ciel said, sliding off his seat and heading out of the kitchen.

"Of course, my Young Lord," Sebastian nodded, following the boy out of the room and presumably back up the stairs.

"Yeah, no worries. I'll just stay here and do my own thing, shall I?" Kakashi muttered darkly, walking out of the kitchen as fast as he could with his aching limbs.

By the time he reached the main hall, there was no sign of the boy or the butler. Clearly they were already upstairs and hadn't bothered to see if he was coming. Grumbling unhappily he started up the stairs, his knees practically groaning in protest under the strain. He was definitely going to have a long, hot bath sometime today.

At the top of the stairs, he paused, allowing his body some respite before walking the final stretch of hallway that lead to his room. He practically collapsed onto the bed when he reached it, humming happily at the comfort the mattress offered. He lay on his stomach for a while, letting him mind wander. After a while, once the sun had risen far enough to warm his back, he rolled off the bed and hobbled over to his closet, pulling out a pair of pants and a clean, crisp white shirt.

Tossing the clean clothes onto the bed he stripped out of his sleeping pants and kicked them off his feet, leaving them where they fell on the floor. He sat on the bed when he pulled on the new pants – it was easier on his aching back and he didn't have to put as much pressure on his knees. He had to stand again to button the fly, and once that was done, he leaned back, stretching his muscles and letting out a sigh of relief.

Straightening up, he unbuttoned the shirt of the pyjamas just enough that he could pull it over his head. The shirt joined the pants on the floor. He turned towards the bed so he could grab the white shirt, but before he could, long arms encircled his waist and pulled him against a strong chest. His breath caught in his throat when he felt a chin rest on his shoulder, and saw black hair and pale skin out of the corner of his eye.

"You did well this morning," Sebastian said quietly, his breath ghosting over the ninja's cheek. "You have my gratitude for saving my Young Master."

"The kid already thanked me," Kakashi said, trying to pull himself out of the butler's arms, but his grip was like iron.

"I realise that. However, I would like to thank you myself…in another way."


End file.
